My (development) workstation setup
I've recently installed a new laptop, which was an opportunity for me to revisit and revise the default software I usually install on any new workstation I set up (I use the term “workstation” here to mean a laptop or desktop machine that I can comfortably use in my daily work — software development in web/backend, AI, audio/video/streaming and related areas).
Here's my latest setup, roughly in the order of installation:
Debian / Ubuntu
I prefer using a Debian-based distribution, ideally Debian stable if all the hardware is supported. Right now Debian 12 (current stable) is pretty old and doesn't support the latest (Meteor Lake) hardware. Instead of mucking around with testing or unstable (which can be fun, but the fun can strike at inopportune times), I've installed the latest Ubuntu (24.10) which supports almost everything out of the box (Linux users will not be surprised to heard I had to tweak some driver options to get suspend/resume working).
The OS installation is pretty standard, the only non-default option I pick is to encrypt the whole disk. Having a non-encrypted disk on a device that can be easily stolen is a no-go for me. On the desktop workstation, I also set up SSH so I can remotely access it from elsewhere, but don't open any ports on the router.
I don't like Ubuntu's tweaks to the GNOME desktop and Snap packages, so if installing Ubuntu I do remove those. In general, I prefer setting up the apt repositories for 3rd party packages (getting auto-updates and all the other apt goodies). If the app doesn't have a repository but has a .deb package, I'll install that. I can also live with flatpak packages, and as a last resort, I'll manually install the app into /opt/<app> (if it's a GUI app or has many files) or /usr/local/bin (if it's a single binary).
GNOME
GNOME is a pretty opinionated piece of software. The developers' particular set of opinions resonates with me and I've been a very happy user for the past 20 years or so. I prefer vanilla GNOME interface (ie. without Ubuntu tweaks) and only need minimal customizations (mostly a few key shortcuts).
I do tend to only use the basic system and utilities. Not because I don't want to use various GNOME apps, but they just don't fit in my preferred workflow much.
1Password
I keep all my passwords in 1p, so it is the first thing that gets installed on a new machine after the OS is installed. It's very easy to set up – install via their apt repo, scan the QR code on my mobile 1Password app, and it's all there.
I also keep my SSH private keys in 1Password and set it up as the ssh agent. This way, I only need to unlock 1Password to unlock my SSH keys.
Dropbox
The next app is Dropbox. I'm a paid user and keep everything important (documents, company and personal documents, some media files, etc.) there. I also use Dropbox to auto-upload my mobile photos and videos, and symlink Pictures/, Videos/, and Music/ to the respective Dropbox folders. Another useful option I use is to scan documents, bills, etc. with my mobile and have them auto-uploaded to Dropbox. Though the quality is not the same as with a proper scanner, it's good enough for most purposes.
I don't keep my code, or the dotfiles/settings in Dropbox.
Firefox / Firefox Dev Edition
I use Firefox as my main browser, and a separate installation of Firefox Developer Edition for development work. Although Firefox is already available on both Ubuntu (via Snap) and Debian (Firefox ESR), I remove those and install the latest version directly from Mozilla's apt repositories.
I love the Multi-Account Containers feature/extension in Firefox. I also install UBlock Origin (ad/tracking blocker), 1Password (1p integration) and Kagi (search engine) extensions. I use (and pay for) Kagi as my search engine, and I'm very happy with it.
Many of the services I use daily are web-based (Fastmail for private mail, Google apps for work, GitHub,)
Tailscale
I have a personal VPN provisioned with Tailscale. Setup involves installing and enabling tailscale client and logging in with my account. Once enabled, I can connect from my laptop to my desktop from anywhere without punching holes in my router or worrying about security.
Visual Studio Code
I use VSCode as my main editor, mostly for editing Python, JavaScript and Markdown files. I use the official Microsoft binary and immediately turn off all telemetry (hopefully all!).
I heavily use the Remote SSH feature of VSCode: most of my projects are located on my desktop. When on Laptop, I open them via Remote SSH, and since that goes through the Tailscale VPN I can do this anywhere in the world. The SSH latency (for terminal work) can be a bit high when accessing from another continent though.
One thing I was worried when first setting this up is potential conflicts if the same project is opened locally (on desktop) and remotely (from laptop) at the same time, but I haven't had any issues with it.
VSCode has pretty good support for Python (including my linter/formatter of choice, ruff) and JavaScript. I also use GitHub Copilot, mostly as a smart auto-completion tool.
Obsidian
I love Obsidian, but keep it simple. I use it without any extra plugins or customizations – just a bunch of Markdown files in folders. I keep the data in Dropbox to get free sync with Dropsync on my phone.
CLI tools
My terminal app of choice is Tilix. It's fast, has tiling support, and integrates nicely with the rest of the GNOME terminal. I use Bash with minimal customizations (prompt, a few aliases and history settings).
I use vim for quick edits in terminal (no config to speak of – just syntax and smart indentation), ripgrep to search in files and fdfind to search files by name/extension. When connecting to a remote server I prefer screen (shows my age, I guess).
As a Python developer, I love the new ruff (a linter/formatter) and uv (package manager) tools so these get installed immediately (just drop them in /usr/local/bin).
I use git for version control, and my personal and work repos are hosted on GitHub. I don't use their CLI app though.
Media
OBS Studio
For any kind of screen recording or streaming, I use OBS Studio. Pretty vanilla setup, works great out of the box, I barely scratch the surface of its capabilities.
CLI tools
I use the command-line mpv for video playback, ffmpeg and friends for audio/video manipulation in the command line, and yt-dlp for downloading videos from YouTube (hey, that's not piracy, I'm a YT Premium subscriber!).
GIMP
If I need to do some image editing (cropping, resizing, adding text, minimal tweaking) I use GIMP. I'm not a graphic designer or a photographer, so GIMP is more than enough for my needs.
Spotify
I still have an old carefully-curated archive of MP3s somewhere, but these days I just use Spotify across all my devices. After a few years of use I've favorited enough of the songs I like so that it recommendations are mostly on point. Not everything is there, and for that I use YouTube. I also like the fact that I can just download all my liked songs for offline use (eg. when outside wifi and mobile coverage, on a plane, or roaming).
Online meetings
This depends on what I'm working on and with whom, but some combination of Slack, Zoom, Google Meet, and Discord (ideally all in the browser whenever possible).
This list is not exhaustive, but it covers the apps I use (almost) daily and will invariably need on a computer. All of them also have very good alternatives, so the list is highly subjective – it contains the tools I prefer and that work well in my personal workflow. Each time I (re)install a workstation there's some tweaking, but these are the ones that I keep coming back to.